


Of Children and Domesticity

by Aeneid



Series: OkiKagu Family [4]
Category: Gintama
Genre: F/M, Family
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-04-08
Updated: 2015-07-30
Packaged: 2018-03-21 22:11:48
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 14,846
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3706041
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Aeneid/pseuds/Aeneid
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>The thought of her being a mother was absurd. At least, that's what Kagura thought, until she came face to face with someone who referred to himself as her son from the future.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. First Meeting

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> New chaptered series from me.
> 
> Finally had the time to write fics; I've been busy writing the English okikagu doujinshi novel, and now that it has been published, I finally had time to write.
> 
> Also, Gintama is back. I know a lot of people have been waiting for the anime series to come back, but I'm desperately waiting for the Fake Illness Arc to be animated. I'm sure I'm gonna laugh so hard at it.
> 
> Without further ado, here's chapter 1.
> 
> Disclaimer: I do not own Gintama. It belongs to Sorachi Hideaki.

* * *

 

Kagura did not like being alone, as she hadbeen through a childhood that left her feeling lonely, sometimes bordering to desolate, but right now, she wanted nothing more than some peace and quiet time for two simple reasons.

"Mother, aren't we supposed to buy strawberry milk for Grandpa?" it did not help that the person who said that (reason one why she wanted some peace and quiet) had actually yelled it out loud, and some of the townspeople who had heard him say it then looked at her, back to the person who said it before their eyes widened, then narrowed at the thought of her being a  _mother_.

She, at her current age of twenty, a legal adult in Edo, was a  _mother_.

The female Yato could have laughed loudly at such an absurd thing, as motherhood had never been on top of her list when she was growing up. Not that she hated children, but she just didn't see herself as a mother. She wanted to be like  _Papi_ , the strongest alien hunter who went across the galaxy, lived his life, and had no responsibilities to take care of.

… Or rather, he had forgotten that it was his responsibility to take care of a young daughter and a sick wife, but because he was simply too busy, he didn't even bother.

" _Mami_ , the milk! You forgot the milk!" came another voice.

She would've been able to laugh at it if it wasn't for the second person, who happened to be reason number two as to why she longed for some peace and quiet.

The second person who happened to be the very reason why she couldn't laugh over this…  _absurd thing_.

_It was during one of those days where no clients dropped by the Yorozuya to seek for assistance, and Gin-chan went off to one of those pachinko parlors to spend all of the salary he was supposed to hand over to her and Shinpachi. By this point in time, she was so used to not being given money by that guy that she just stole whatever she could from his wallet whenever he wasn't look, only so she could buy sukonbu._

_On that particular day, a knock could be heard on the door. She, lazy as always, wanted to just pretend that she wasn't home so that they would go away, but the knocking wouldn't stop and, in her frustration, she marched to the front door, clad in her pajamas. Kagura had been prepared to yell at whoever it was that kept knocking on the door until she came face to face with Sadist._

_Or rather, a person who looked like sadist. They had the same hair color, the same hair style, and even the same clothes but… something felt off._

_"Mother." It was all he said before she slammed the door in his face, both in shock and in fear of the young man who stood outside of the Yorozuya's door._

_If she was in some kind of practical joke show, she wanted out._

_Upon opening the door once more, only to find another young man behind the one who looked a lot like sadist having the same hair color and same eye color as she had, she screamed immediately._

They had been in Edo for nearly a week and with no sign of them even bothering to leave the Yorozuya (the two boys had took to the couches whenever it was time for bed, or slept in the room where Gin-chan slept, which she kept her 'room' in the  _futon_  storage cabinet), she was in danger of losing her sanity.

" _Mami_!"

She had had it.

She turned to the second person who referred to her as 'Mami' and glared at him, making him stop in his tracks. "I am  _not_  your mother!"

Confusion etched his face, and he looked at the other one who she thought was sadist, but wasn't. Her intuition, for some reason, had worked this time around… but there was no denying the fact that the other guy looked a lot like  _him_. "Souichirou-nii, this is really weird."

"Of course it's weird!" she interrupted angrily, making both of them wince from the loudness of her tone. "Two teenage boys following me around, calling me 'mom'?! And you just expect  _me_  to readily agree to that?!" she usually did not do the  _tsukkomi_ , but in special situations such as these, it could not be helped.

Most especially if the two boys with her claimed to be her two elder sons from the future whose father happened to be the guy she couldn't stand the most, Okita Sougo, member of the tax robbers, and a sadistic jerk to boot.

Her and the sadist?

Together?

With children?

What a sick joke it was.

Her having kids?

She didn't know which was worse: choosing not to be an alien hunter because of the children or having children with  _that guy_.

How could future her choose that kind of path? It was stupid, insane, and very impractical.

She could hardly take care of herself; what more two boys?

"We know it's hard to believe but… it's disrespectful if we don't call you Mother… even if we're both the same age right now." The sheepish answer came from the elder of the two, whose name happened to be Souichirou, the nickname that Gin-chan used to refer to  _that guy_.

"… And that 'Mother' of yours… how old is she in your timeline?" she couldn't help but ask.

"Mother just turned forty last November." at this, she gaped at him, unable to imagine that at her current age, that other her, had been  _stupid enough_  to get herself pregnant…  _with sadist's child_. Mentally, she did the math, surprised at the fact that the other her had not been contented with  _one_ ,  _but two_ , as the second one claimed that he was three years younger than his brother.

"… So she had you at my current age." At this, her supposed son blushed and nodded. "And why are you all red all of a sudden?"

"N-nothing. J-just that… I remember Mother telling me that upon learning that she was pregnant with me, she told Father that he didn't need to stick around her life anymore because she'll be taking care of me  _alone_." upon hearing the words, Kagura inwardly cheered, knowing that she had at least a chance of  _not_  getting together with that guy.

"But she got knocked up twice?" she asked. "I mean, the other one wouldn't exist—"

"He's Akito." Souichirou supplied helpfully. "Yes, Akito is the second eldest… but who's to say that we don't have other siblings?"

Kagura paled at the word.

 _Siblings?_  With an 's'?!

How stupid was that other her anyway, getting herself pregnant and abandoning her dreams of becoming the best alien hunter in the galaxy?! It was so unheard of, and it disgusted her. Privately, she thought that just because someone got knocked up didn't mean they would easily abandon their dreams.

A domesticated Yato was an oxymoron; a Yato didn't do household management. They set out to galaxies and beyond to conquer and destroy everything they could see.

She sure as hell did not fit the category of a woman who would stay at home and take care of the kids.

"… I'm actually afraid to ask, but just how many are you all in total?"

As soon as he told her the number of children future her have, she nearly felt faint.

HOW?!

Just how was it possible for her to spawn  _five_?!

"I dunno 'bout you,  _Mami_ , but obviously, we were all conceived in the natural way." The smartmouth, who happened to be the one who got her hair color and eyes, said jokingly before leaping away to avoid his mother, or rather, another version of his mother's lethal umbrella attack. "Kidding~"

"Akito." His older brother shot him a warning look before the younger one bowed his head.

"… Sorry,  _Mami_." He said.

She seriously did not know what to make of that remark, especially since she had an inkling that the one who looked a lot like her would turn out to be so sarcastic (and he really was)… and it was also her fault for voicing out her thoughts.

Still…

With the tip of her umbrella, she hit the boy lightly on the head, tapping him on the forehead. "… Don't let your real mother hear that." She said, before turning around to continue on with her shopping (she was  _so_  not buying that strawberry milk for Gin-chan)…

… until the person she really was not in the mood to deal with suddenly appeared in front of her.

Why the heck did he have two girls flanking him?

… And why did they look familiar?!

One of the sandy-haired girls whose eye color mirrored her own hers gasped upon seeing them. The other one, whose hair was similar to hers, followed the other's line of sight and gasped as well. Without warning, the two bolted away from  _that guy's side_ and ran towards them.

" _Aniue! Ani-chan!_ " clad in a  _kimono_ , the one who had sandy hair rushed to her brothers, giving them a huge hug. "Thank goodness you're here!"

"Atsumi. Glad to see you're safe." The eldest brother said. "Where have you two been?"

"We were staying with dad the whole time and—" feeling an uneasy aura around her, she turned back to where her father stood and grimaced upon seeing her 'parents'… their past selves at that, glaring at one another. "… Are they at it again?"

"Looks like Mama and Papa hate each other's guts in this timeline…" the eldest female in their family, Miyuki, stated before sighing and shaking her head. "Just like they said they were before they got together."

It was no secret among the four of them that their parents, long before they got together, had their…  _differences_. It was their parents' favorite story during their childhood (Father officially met Mother during the  _hanami_ season and were at each other's throats ever since), and whenever the two of them got into arguments, they would reassure the children, who always had a worried look on their faces, that it was their form of showing affection towards one another.

Souichirou-nii, at age fifteen, then remarked loudly at that time that it was probably one of the many reasons why he had  _siblings_ , and not just  _a_   _sibling_ , causing their Mother to turn as red as her China dress, and for Father to raise an eyebrow, though he looked quite embarrassed upon hearing the rather obvious statement.

No doubt, their parents love one another so much that they currently have  _five children_ … with two more on the way. Father had said that they  _tried_  to prevent it, but to no avail, as Mother was, once again, pregnant… and this time, with twins. The three elderly siblings simply shook their heads at the thought of their forty-year old Mother pregnant, while the youngest sister, Atsumi, was too elated to even think of the possible outcome about Mother's condition, as she had always wanted to be a big sister to her current and future younger siblings. While Father promised that nothing would happen (Mother was, after all, the picture of health), at the back of the siblings' minds, they always feared the worst.

Not to mention, Father would be devastated if Mother would pass on and left all of them…

"What the hell are you doing here?" they heard Mother hiss at Father, or rather, the youngest version of their Father, whose face was wiped clean of emotion.

"I'm on patrol duty with…  _them_." He gestured at the two other girls with the turn of his head, and when Mother looked at the Okita siblings' way, it was obvious that she looked very nonplussed upon seeing her children, or rather, her future children, all standing together, their faces curious at the scene that was unfolding before them. "They said that they were looking for their…  _brothers_ ," he said, but without difficulty, probably because he himself couldn't believe that he would have children of his own someday. "… and now that they've been reunited, my work is done." Shrugging, he sidestepped to continue on his way, ignoring the glare sent his way by Mother, who was just about to follow him.

Souichirou knew he had to step in, and he did…

… Immediately, he felt himself suddenly balking upon facing Father, or rather, Father's younger self.

He had been told time and again that he was his Father's spitting image by a lot of people, though he knew that the shape of his face was one of the very few things he inherited from Mother.

That, and his Yato lineage… and the raging bloodlust that sometimes went out of control whenever he got himself into trouble.

"Father." He said, staring into a near mirror image of himself.

Okita Sougo tilted his head in confusion. "And you are?"

"My apologies." He bowed his head. "I am Okita Souichirou, your… or rather, your future self's first born."

"… What do you want?" inwardly, Souichirou winced at the other man's cold tone, but he knew that it was a natural reaction.

After all, it wasn't everyday that you encounter your future children.

He cleared his throat. "… I was wondering if you could let us stay in your house until—"

"No." came the harsh response.

"But—"

"I already said 'no'." a flash of annoyance was evident in Father's eyes, making Souichirou fearful all of a sudden. "I promised the two girls that I would find their brothers, and now that you've all reunited, my job is done. Move out of my way, will you?"

Souichirou knew that it was disrespectful to fight against your own father, even against his younger self, but desperate times called for desperate measures. He had to do something for his siblings, and as the eldest and the heir of their family, he would do  _anything_  just to provide for them. Immediately, he went over to where Father stood and held the older man's sword arm, gripping it tightly. From the corner of his eye, he saw Father wince ever so slightly and mentally patted himself on the back for having the nerve to do something so impolite.

"… I don't want to do this, but my siblings and I are currently without a home, and while we do want to go back to our timeline, we can't. Not until Hiraga Gengai fixes the battered time machine that had conveniently destroyed itself as soon as we got here." Suddenly, Souichirou's eyes mirror Sougo's previous look, though it felt a touch more violent, a testament of his Yato lineage. "I can easily break your arm if I wish… and you won't like that. What will it be, Okita Sougo?"

Okita Sougo snorted in reply and slapped the younger man's hand away from his arm. While brushing away the imaginary dust on his uniform sleeve, he said, "You've got guts trying to one-up me, kid, I'll give you that." Looking at the younger man straight in the eye, he said, "Guess I have no choice… you all stay with me."

"After all, I'd be an idiot if I try to fight against four desperate teenage half-Yato."

* * *

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, the children's names are (from eldest to youngest):
> 
> 総一郎 | Souichirou = eldest son (lit. "first son)  
> 昭仁 | Akito = second eldest son (lit. "bright virtue")  
> 神幸 | Miyuki = eldest daughter (lit. "god of fortune")  
> 京美 | Atsumi = second daughter (lit. "beautiful capital")
> 
> Out of all of them, only Miyuki inherited the kanji for 'god' (神) from Kagura, who got it from Umibouzu (real name: Kankou [神晃]).
> 
> Hopefully, this series won't be boring. orz I'll do my best to make this worth your while.


	2. Family

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Souchirou tells Present!Sougo about his family.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hopefully, the waiting wasn't too long. ^^;
> 
> Major thanks to tangerinespectre from Tumblr for proofreading this!

He felt tired all of a sudden.

At ten in the evening, his household was quiet all of a sudden, though it wasn't as if it was rambunctious earlier either. All four of the teenagers he took in, albeit half-heartedly, had become subdued and quiet the moment they arrived in his home. Even while eating their dinner (which was also paid for by him and had been worth three months' of his household budget), they made no move to speak to one another. He was unnerved at the fact that nearly all of them averted their gaze at him, and it was only the eldest of the four who looked up from time to time to observe him, though he also kept to himself.

Why they were silent, he did not know, though he suspected that they fear him because of his callous actions earlier.

After dinner, the two girls stood up wordlessly and collected all of the plates and dishes and began to soak all of it in the sink before the two boys stood up and started clearing the table. Without even asking, all four of them began to clean up in his dining room and kitchen.

Honestly, it surprised him; not that he knew anything about children nor teenagers, but the sense of responsibility that was instilled upon them was admirable.

He wondered if it was really possible that the him from the future could be this…  _responsible_.

At the age of twenty-four, his responsibilities only applied to himself, and to his duty as a police officer of Edo… but to a family?

 _Impossible_.

If the two girls, Atsumi and Miyuki, were to be believed, the future him became a father at the same age as he was right now... and that him becoming a father had not really been planned as well.

He would believe if he only had one child, but  _five children_?

And with two more on the way?

What the hell was future him thinking?

As much as he wanted to draw his own conclusion based on what they had told him, he knew he shouldn't.

The best way to learn  _everything_  would be to ask them one by one about the future, as the two girls didn't give him a lot to go on when they initially stayed with him for five days… though now that he thought about it, doing such would take a lot of time. Not only that, but all of them looked really tired and needed rest.

It wasn't everyday that you get spirited away to the past, after all, and as much as he didn't want to bother them, he knew he had to, at one point.

… Besides, their stories about the future would probably help him figure out things from here on.

For starters, his tumultuous relationship with China was getting out of hand, even for him. She was so hostile that he took great lengths to avoid her. Frankly, their meeting earlier was a first after around three months of hiding from her, even going as far as knowing when and where she would appear, just so he would be able to avoid her. While Kondo-san had found it odd that he requested that he be put on guard duty at the headquarters months ago, Hijikata suspected that China and him were not on good terms. Thankfully, he said nothing about it.

He had only been forced to go out and patrol when he noticed that the girls, when he checked up on them during his lunch break, looked rather peaky earlier. When asked what was wrong, they told him that they were anxious to see their brothers, whom they have been separated from ever since they got to this timeline.

_"We've been looking around, dad… but we still haven't found them yet after five days… what if something bad happened to them?"_

Maybe it was the dormant fatherly instincts in him, but without thinking, he told them to get ready and get dressed, as he was going to help them find their brothers. While he succeeded in reuniting the siblings, him encountering China had put him in a rather foul mood that he knew had probably made him look bad in the eyes of all four of them. Not that he cared too much about their opinion, but it may have had upset them seeing their parents… or rather, the past selves of their parents, so openly hostile with the other.

Sighing and shaking his head, he was just about to head to the kitchen to get something to drink when he found the eldest by the refrigerator, also getting a glass of juice. As soon as Souichirou saw him, he jumped up in surprised. "F-Father! E-err, I mean, uhh…"

"It's fine." He said immediately, mentally cursing himself for the abrupt response, as it made him sound harsher than he intended. "I don't mind being call that; not that I have any choice on the matter when it's obvious that you're uncomfortable calling me by my name."

Before the younger man could reply, he added, just for good measure, "Referring to me as 'Okita' would also be weird, since we're both 'Okita', right? Assuming that your parents did get married."

A chuckle escaped Souichirou's lips. "My parents  _are_  married. Mother wasn't called 'that poor policeman's demon wife' for nothing when she was younger."

"And now?"

"Still a 'demon wife', according to Father. He would tell her that she would never be a proper wife for him, and for some reason Mother would always blush and hit him whenever he said that." He shrugged. "My parents' relationship is something that I will never fathom, even after twenty years."

He had to agree with that; he himself didn't understand the relationship between him and China either.

"I want to ask you something." Sougo blurted out as soon as Souichirou placed back the carton of orange juice inside the refrigerator.

"Atsumi and Miyuki didn't tell me much, but I was wondering if you can actually enlighten me about this… situation." Hell, he didn't even have a proper term for it. All he knew was that everything was all messed up, and that their presence threw him off-guard, especially since when the possibility of him and China having children together in the near future made him feel so unsettled…  _even afraid_.

The future somehow seemed scary now.

"Tell me about the future."

* * *

Okita Souichirou wasn't expecting this development  _at all_.

While Mother's younger self made it clear that she wanted no part in all of this, nor she wanted to know anything about them, Father looked rather serious right now, with his eyes, so similar to his own, looking grave. It was obvious by the way he stood that he was tense, as his fists were clenched beside him; he was afraid that Father was stressing himself out over this… situation.

All four of them, as soon as they heard that Father was going to take them in temporarily, agreed to keep conversation and jokes to a minimal whenever Father was around, as not to be a bother to him. Dinner had been uneventful, as no one talked and simply concentrated on eating food, and it all went according to plan. They also all agreed to do their part in the household chores and to keep everything tidy, though all knew that doing chores wasn't so different from back home; after all, they all grew up in a home that taught them to be independent.

As for him, he was already on the verge of moving out of his parents' house and was supposed to live on his own when  _this_ happened.

Stuck in a timeline where he and his siblings weren't supposed to be in, they figured that they might as well get comfortable until it was time to leave. The Hiraga Gengai of this timeline had told them that it would take some time before the time machine, in the form of a vending machine, would be fixed. Add to that, the amount of energy needed to be able to send four of them back to the correct timeline would also take a while.

As the eldest, it was his duty to be the sane one and not let any harm befall upon him and his siblings until they got back home.

The last thing he wanted was his parents revoking their approval of letting him move out.

It didn't matter if he was of age and that he could actually leave the household without their approval; the last thing he wanted was for his parents to disown him and make them cry for being an irresponsible son.

Then again…

If he stayed in the house and accidentally hear them have sex  _one more time_ despite in possession of  _noise-cancelling headphones_ , he was seriously going to consider moving out without their approval, which his Mother would mostly likely refer to as 'running away from home'.

While he was already legal adult in Edo society, Mother still saw him as her baby… despite being pregnant right now. She never failed to make him roll his eyes whenever she referred to him as her 'big baby', and no amount of explaining that he was already an adult would make her stop.

Thinking about Mother sadden him, but right now, he couldn't do anything about their current situation. It was a waiting game, one that he had to play along with; his siblings knew that right now, they were powerless. The only way for them to all keep their sanity was to distract themselves.

… Though there was this rather bold suggestion from Akito to do  _something_  to keep them all sane that involved this timeline's Okita Sougo and Kagura, and while he wasn't really against it, it was…

Well, who wouldn't find matchmaking your parents' younger selves awkward anyway?

Brushing away such thoughts temporarily, he asked, "Sure. What would you like to know?"

" _Everything._ "

Father's younger self gestured at the dining table seat, and he complied right after he set down his glass. When both of them have been comfortably settled, he then followed it up with another question. "That is… a broad topic. Anything you want to know in particular?"

"… Now that I think about it, your sisters mentioned that there were five people in total who were involved in this… time traveling thing." The older man said. "Where's the other one?"

"Oh, don't worry. He didn't get caught up in the time machine." Souichirou said. "We all told Sei to go home and tell our parents what happened."

"… Sei?" Father echoed, making him nod in response. "As in… 'blue'?"

Souichirou had to smile in spite of his situation. Apart from his parents, he missed his little brother. "Part of it. He's called 'Sousei'… and it means 'clear blue'."[1]

"I see." Despite the calm response, Souichirou had an inkling that Father was feeling overwhelmed with the new information he just heard. Out of all of them, it was Sei who inherited the exact same shade of Mother's eyes, a deep and vivid blue, while his features were similar to Father's, even copying his hairstyle back when Father was younger. The youngest child in their brood right now, he got both features of his parents, and because of the fifteen-year age gap between Sei and him, people would sometimes think  _he_  was Sei's father.

He shuddered at the thought of him procreating at the age as his Mother did.

He preferred the bachelor life over having to fuss over children; taking care of his siblings was a trial on both his physical and mental health, half-Yato status and all.

"Does it bother you that future you currently have… five children? With two more on the way?" he figured that since they opened the topic of Sei, he might as well be blunt about this. He wanted to know what this Okita Sougo thought of a huge family.

Mother's younger self was not happy with the revelation that he and Akito had more siblings, which hurt him a bit more than he would like to admit. It felt as if she did not care for their existence  _at all_.

Shaking his head, the policeman sighed. "I'd be lying if I say it doesn't bother me… but it's more of me feeling astonished. I find it hard to believe that your father decided to have that many children." He took a gulp of water. "But I do understand why he would want to… the lonely childhood would do that to you."

Souichirou nodded. "I have heard from Father that my grandparents died when he was young, so it was Aunt Mitsuba who took care of him… though he had to leave Bushu at a young age in order to fulfill his dream of becoming a  _samurai_." He sighed. "And then… Aunt Mitsuba succumbed to her sickness."

It was evident that despite after several years, Aunt Mitsuba's death still affected Father's younger self. His aura, which had been tense, seemed to have turned melancholic. "… Which is why I think your father had been drawn to your mother. Just a theory, but with no one around his age, he had to either grow up or get left behind. However, upon meeting someone who was younger than him and would humor him despite the nasty remarks he said, he knew he had to take this chance with her. That way, he would feel less lonely."

Now that he thought about it… at this, Souichirou perked up. "… Are you saying that—" just before he could finish his sentence, he was cut off.

"Maybe I do share the same experience with what your father went through, maybe I don't. Either way, it doesn't change the fact that China  _is_  part of our lives… for better or for worse."

Still, despite trying to sound nonchalant about Mother's past self… something was off. Was it just his imagination, or did Father's younger self look rather agitated while discussing  _her_?

 _Interesting._  Souichirou made a mental note to discuss this with his siblings.

"I know we're supposed to be discussing my family but… why does it seem like Mother, or rather, her younger self, is so hostile towards you?"

"… It's better if you don't know, kid. It's rather complicated." Meaning, he didn't want to talk about it.

… Maybe one of his sisters would know something about this. He'll have to ask them later, when he was back in the room Father had assigned to them.

"Going back to the topic… I'd want to know how everything fell into place." Okita Sougo said, shrugging. "I'm curious about how your parents told you the story of them getting together. I doubt it would ever happen in this timeline, but humor me, will you, kid?"

And so, he told Father his parents' version of how they had gotten together, or, as Souichirou privately called it, the 'I was not planned, but all of my siblings were' love story. He himself wasn't sure if this was the true story or if they had altered some details to suit their children's ears, but fact remained that his parents' story was rather amusing to know.

An Amanto and an Earthling getting together was unusual, but them having children was something that made eyebrows raise, especially since a native of Edo would  _never_  imagine getting together with a foreigner.

Yet his parents overcame all of those haughty remarks and hostile stares, and he could have never been more proud of being the son of an Earthling and a Yato.

By the time he was done relating everything he could about his family, upon glancing at the clock in the kitchen, he was surprised to see that it was already half past eleven. Stifling a yawn, just when he was about to ask for permission to sleep, his father spoke up. "You must be exhausted from today's activities. You should go sleep."

"Y-yes, of course." Standing up from his seat, he went over to the sink, and was just about to wash the glass when Sougo walked over to where he was.

"Leave it there. Just clean it in the morning."

"Alright." Bowing his head, he said, "Good night, Father."

From the kitchen, he headed for the adjacent  _tatami_  room, the room located near the entrance to the house, and upon opening the sliding door, he was surprised to find all of his siblings sitting on the  _futon_  donated to them by the Shinsengumi, wide awake.

"… Why are you all still up?" he asked them.

"Obviously,  _aniue_ , we were waiting for you to tell us what you and Father talked about." Atsumi huffed, pouting at him, though her blue eyes were sparkling with curiosity.

Their Father had used to say that Atsumi looked a lot like their Aunt Mitsuba, from the hairstyle down to the appearance, save for her eyes, which she had inherited from Mother. At age ten, she had the aura and the looks of their late aunt… as long as she didn't open her mouth, which was, according to Father, as foul as their Mother's mouth back when she was younger. That, and her penchant for being a loudmouth and a gossip.

"What Atsumi said." The other female in the room said, tossing back her medium-length hair over her shoulder. The eldest daughter of their family, Miyuki, the one who inherited Mother's character name for 'god'[2], as well as her bright vermillion hair, was their level-headed sibling who had the most Yato characteristics among all of them. At age thirteen, she was rather serious for a girl her age, as she felt pressured to live up to their Yato heritage… though Atsumi did everything to make her older sister as 'normal' as possible, which meant dragging her into mischief. In no time at all, Miyuki had grown to love gossip as well, and with Atsumi, they stuck their noses into affairs that they had no business with.

No doubt, they would want to know  _every little detail_  possible, as Miyuki's dark red eyes, something that she had also inherited from Father, were dancing with mischief. Souichirou knew that she was planning something, and whatever it was… he was just thankful that he would not be the target of it.

Turning to Akito, he said, "… You also stayed up just to know  _everything_?"

He shrugged. "It'll help with the matchmaking." Unlike their younger sisters, he claimed not to be a gossip… yet he was the type who would get angry if he was out of the loop when it came to the latest rumors.

"You're still at it?"

Akito, the one who, according to Mother, looked a lot like their Uncle Kamui, grinned mischievously. "I'm not backing down. It's a challenge that I'm willing to do… you gotta admit, there's something between  _Mami_  and  _Papi_  in this timeline that I can't quite put my finger on."

 _No doubt._  Father refused to speak about it, but he would find out.

Or rather, they would all find out about it, somehow.

He may not look like it, but Okita Souichirou himself liked to know about everything.

He wasn't the child of a woman who grew up in Kabuki-cho, the place of entertainment, gossip, and scandals, and a police officer whose job was to be in the know around Edo, for nothing.

Upon plopping down on his place in the  _futon_ , he told his siblings  _everything_  he knew.

They had to start as soon as possible if they wanted everything to work between them before they go back home, back to their original timeline.

It was the least they could do for their Father.

* * *

This wasn't good.

For all the back rubs and the hugs, it wasn't working.

Then again, he doubted that it would work. No amount of those gestures he did had help her forget the fact that the majority of their brood was missing, and that they were currently helpless right now. He did what he could to speed up the process, but was told that it would take time and resources.

For all the money he had, it was currently impossible to do  _anything_. Hiraga Gengai said so himself that a lot of patience was needed in order for them to be able to see their children again, as the machinery that they would use to go back to the past needed to go through a lot of preparations.

"Sougo…" she whined, sniffling against his chest, tears and snot running down her face. He made a mental note to change his shirt tomorrow morning, right after his morning shower. "I… I can't sleep. I… the children…"

"Shhh." He hushed her, hugging her tighter, running his fingers down her waist-length hair. Right now, they were in their bedroom, due to retire for the night, but knew that it would be difficult to do so. It had taken him two hours to calm down their youngest, who was beside himself worrying over the fact that 'nii-nii', his term for Souichirou, 'nii', his term for Akito, 'Yuki-ane', his term for Miyuki, and 'Sumi-nee', his term for Atsumi, were not yet at home. Right after making up a lie to tell Sei that his brothers and sisters were at their grandpa Gin's place because of a sudden invitation, he finally fell asleep. Right after that, Sougo turned his attention to his wife, who had been crying her heart out ever since she found out that they had disappeared.

Her pregnancy wasn't at a precarious stage, but the hormones and the stress wasn't making it easier for her, most especially him, who didn't like seeing her moping around.

It hurt him that he was unable to do  _anything_  to ease her distress.

"We'll find them." He pressed a kiss on her forehead. "Worrying won't do well for you. Right now we… we can't do anything. We have to wait." Aside from stressing herself out, the little ones would also get stressed, and the last thing he wanted was her crying over both their missing children and their unborn.

He dreaded to think about that scenario, but if it came to that… he gave out a sharp exhale at the thought of her permanently out of his life, surprising her, who pulled away for a bit to check if he was still okay.

"What's wrong, Sougo?"

"I-It's nothing… j-just trying to calm down." Even though he looked calm, inside, he was filled with dread. "… Though I don't think I'll be able to sleep either."

"T-then… won't you keep me company?" she brushed his hair back away from his forehead in an attempt to calm him, and while the gesture felt nice, it wasn't enough to ease his anxiety. Just so she wouldn't worry, he flashed her the warmest smile he could muster.

"Of course. For as long as you want."

They would get through this; before they would even realize it, their children would be back home, in their respective rooms, and life would go back to the way it was.

For now, they would humor fate and play along with it.

If that was the only thing they could do for the meantime, so be it; as long as they would get their children back in the end, they were willing to wait.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> [1] "Part of it. He's called 'Sousei'… and it means 'clear blue'." - OkiKagu Baby # 5′s name is written as 「爽青」(Sousei). It's a bit of a tribute to both his parents, as the 'Sou' in his name is a homophone to Sougo's 'sou' (different kanji though; Sougo's 'sou' is written as 「総」), and the 'sei' is the kanji for 'blue', because of the color of his eyes.
> 
> [2] ... the one who inherited Mother's character name for 'god' - like her mother, Uncle Kamui, and Granpa Umibouzu (real name: Kankou), Miyuki's name has the kanji 'god' in it (spelled as 神幸, which means 'god of fortune'). According to Sorachi Hideaki's response to a fan letter in Volume 57 of the Gintama manga, Kamui 「神威」('divinity) and Kagura 「神楽」('god of entertainment) got the kanji 'god' from Umibouzu, whose real name is Kankou 「神晃」(divine brilliance).


	3. Frame-Up

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Okita Atsumi tries her hand at matchmaking. Things did not go as planned.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I've been pretty busy for the past few months, especially since I got distracted with a lot of stuff (KamuSoyo is a pairing that I like writing for a lot of reasons) + Touken Ranbu took my life. Not surprisingly, I'm biased for the Okita-gumi.
> 
> ... ○|￣|＿
> 
> Anyway, here's Chapter 3. It's rather long (8,471), but I hope it was worth the wait.
> 
> Warning for this chapter: a bit of drug references (nothing major) + personal interpretation of what it means to be a half-Yato.
> 
> Without further ado, enjoy.
> 
> Disclaimer: I do not own Gintama. It belongs to Sorachi Hideaki.

* * *

“I’m sure Okita-kun wouldn’t mind if you knocked at his doorstep this late at night just so you could visit the kids.”

Annoyed that her guardian had voiced out the internal turmoil she was currently struggling with, it took everything in her not to open her mouth and yell at him for even suggesting something so idiotic. Instead, she gave a nonchalant shrug with her right shoulder and continued eating her dinner, which consisted of  _miso_  soup, pickled radish, rice, and broiled fish. For once, they actually had a very decent dinner, all because Gin-chan didn’t use the money for  _pachinko_ … and because their two guests for the past few days weren’t staying with them anymore. Having them over had wrecked a hole in Gin-chan’s wallet (and bank account), all because of the second guy’s appetite, which rivaled her own. The one who looked like sadist ate heartily as well, though he was second when it came to the younger one’s appetite. If the younger one had managed to eat fifteen bowls of rice, the older one could only eat fourteen and a half.

Feeding three people whose stomachs seem like a bottomless pit had been rather difficult on her guardian’s part. Calling reinforcements in the form of Shinpachi and  _anego_ , they had managed to have gotten through a lot of meal time that didn’t put  _too much_  dent on the expenses of the Yorozuya boss, though  _anego_  had not been happy when she found out that they also had to fork some money to pay for the meals.

 _“If these children weren’t Kagura-chan’s, I wouldn’t have hesitated to strike you, Gin-san.” Said_ anego  _in her usual sing-song tone, though there was no mistaking the dark aura that permeated out of her._

One thing was clear though; the one who resembled her had more Yato genes in him than the other, and that made her smirk, only for her to shake her head, irritated at the way her mind suddenly took a turn towards  _that route_.

… Why the hell was she feeling like a proud mother when she did not want anything to do with them?!

“It’s too bad that Souichirou-kun and Akito-kun left… would’ve wanted to ask them more about the future.” Said Shinpachi, who had joined them tonight for dinner by cooking the meal they were all currently eating. “I was hoping to ask them what Future Otsuu-chan would be like… hopefully, she didn’t go for the AV route…” [1]

She decided to ignore the jab and concentrated on eating her food, knowing that he was probably joining in in the teasing.

“Yeah, too bad the dad took them in. There goes my free labor.” Gintoki said jokingly before taking a sip of his  _miso_ soup. “Nice kids though. They were fun to talk to, though they were very shy.”

Whatever it was that they were doing, it wasn’t going to work on her.

She had washed their hands off of them as soon as all of them got reunited, and frankly, it wasn’t her responsibility to check up on them anymore;  _that guy_  was there already, and he could handle it.

… But why the heck did some part of her was longing to see them, just to see if they were doing okay?

And why the heck did it feel as if this was some kind of messy divorce situation wherein she could only see the children during schedule visits?!

She and  _him_   _were_   _definitely not married_...!

“I told you already, Okita-kun probably won’t mind you stopping by this late at night just to see the kids.” The silver-haired  _samurai_  reminded her upon seeing her rather intense stare at Shinpachi’s now-empty rice bowl, knowing that she was definitely not taking offense at the empty dish. “Just be home by twelve.”

She glared at her surrogate father, who rolled his eyes before glaring back at her. “… You’ve been weird ever since you got home. Is it because they left and went with Okita-kun and you’re actually resenting them for it?”

It was so far off from the truth that she couldn’t help but laugh. “I’m actually glad that they’re not my responsibility anymore. Don’t say stupid things, Gin-chan. We both know they were burning a hole in your wallet, and you’re glad as well!”

“I am not! I’m glad for their company because of the free labor, and they actually respect me,  _unlike you, you brat!_ ”

“I am  _not_  a brat! Not anymore!”

Shinpachi chose this time to voice out his opinion, ignoring the fighting that was going on between his fellow Yorozuya members. “Then if it’s not them, then… are you and Okita-san having another fight?”

She felt the wind got knocked out of her, but Kagura was thankful for being able to immediately recover from Shinpachi’s question. Still, damn him for hitting the nail on the head on that one. “O-o-of course not! Like I care about that guy!” she desperately hoped that her voice sounded neutral to their ears.

Any mention of that guy always sent her into a ranting frenzy that it always shook whenever she talked about  _him_  to anyone.

… Not that she openly discussed her problems with anyone about  _him_ , when she usually kept to herself.

“Come to think of it, haven’t been seeing him around lately. Maybe it’s just me, but it seems like he’s avoiding you.” The stupid perm guy said, narrowing his eyes at her before widening in shock. “Don’t tell me…”

She held her breath, afraid that her usually lazy guardian would get so perceptive and would know why the sadist and her were ignoring each other.

“… that you two are in a secret relationship, and are ignoring one another because you don’t want us to find out!”

… She was so sorry for even giving him far more credit than he deserved.

Shinpachi, on the other hand, had spat out a mouthful of rice at her direction, shocked at the accusation Sakata Gintoki had uttered. “I-is that true, Kagura-chan?! You and Okita-san are—”

“… Thanks for the meal.” After calmly setting down her rice bowl and wiping her face clean with the silver-haired samurai’s  _kimono_ , who yelled at her for ruining the newly-washed clothing, she stood up, grabbed her red winter coat, put on her shoes, and slammed the door shut, ignoring the two males who were yelling apologies to her and for her to come back.

Her foul mood was back, and the last thing she wanted was her lashing out at them.

As much as she wanted to blame Okita for putting her into a rather disgusting mood that made her snap at anyone around her, she couldn’t. To his credit, he took pains to avoid her as well, just like she did, but everyone else around her, especially the ones who didn’t know their falling out, would casually mention him. Once or twice was fine, but to mention him just so they could goad a reaction from her?

That was another thing altogether.

It didn’t matter if Gin-chan was joking, or if Shinpachi had genuinely been curious; talking about  _that guy_  was too much for her to handle in a single day.

She didn’t realize that she was heading into the suburb part of Edo when she got out of the Yorozuya and began wandering aimlessly, with no direction in mind. The sights of cabaret clubs and host clubs were long gone, and was now replaced by convenience stores and rows of 2-storey apartment buildings and houses. Checking her mobile phone inside her coat pocket and realizing that it was only nine in the evening, she decided to do some walking until she’d get bored. Logically, she would have to head home after her walk, but her anger towards her guardian had yet to abate.

_Well, whatever. I’ll see first. Maybe I’ll calm down after a while._

As much as she wanted to bunk in for the meantime with  _anego_ , Shinpachi had offended her by spitting out his food to her face, and did not want to face him, as he would, no doubt, ask further questions about  _that guy_. Sighing in irritation, she crossed the street, going over to the next block that had rows of houses on the right, with a small park on the left. Vaguely, she recalled that this was the park where she and  _that guy_  used to spar whenever they saw it fit to annoy the hell out of each other. Shuddering, she was just about to turn away and finally go home for good when, at the corner of the park, she saw a familiar figure by the vending machine… or rather, what caught her eye was the figure’s hair color, which she knew all too well.

Upon hearing the machine release a bottle of drink, the figure placed it inside the bag, and was about to walk away when, upon seeing Kagura, the said figure jolted in surprise.

“M-mom…”

* * *

She had to get away immediately.

Okita Miyuki knew that her mother in this timeline couldn’t stand her… or rather, couldn’t stand to see her, or any of her siblings just because she couldn’t accept the fact that  _she_  was their mother in their timeline. It had hurt all of them when she had left them with a rather scathing remark (“I’d hate to break up this mini-reunion, but now that you’ve found your siblings, you’re all on your own.  _Never ever_  bother me with this kind of crap again.”), and it took everything in her not to cry right then and there. She had always been the most sensitive out of all of them, even at her age, and any negative word that was uttered at her  _usually_  made her cry.

Uncle Kamui found that out the hard way (“What a weird-looking kid. Of all the things you inherited from that guy, it just had to be his eye color. Clashes with your hair too.”), and it took him  _months_  before he managed to visit them again without getting verbal and physical threats coming from any of their parents, with the promise that he wouldn’t say  _anything_  that would make her cry again.

Of course, that didn’t stop him from making remarks whenever their parents were not around, but she learned later on that it was his way of showing affection towards her, or any of his nephews or nieces.

Then again, Uncle had always been rather…  _unique_ , and he was always quick to show them just how  _unique_  his personality was.

“Wait—”

“Apologies. I’ll be on my way now.” As her eyes were downcast, she failed to see Kagura flinch at the rather disheartened response coming from her. Just before she could make her way back to dad’s house, which was a couple of minutes away from where she was, a hand grabbed her arm.

“… Look, I’m sorry about earlier, okay?”

Surprised at the direct apology with hardly any stammer in it, as was usual with people who offered apologies, she looked up to meet her mom’s azure-colored eyes, and was surprised at the hesitation reflected upon it. “… I have no excuse for my behavior earlier, other than I was very stressed out.”

Despite herself, she smiled. “… Well,  _aniue_  and  _ani-chan_  can be a handful—”

“… Maybe so, but I was referring to another person.”

No doubt, mom was referring to dad, and somehow, this made her feel uncomfortable. As someone who was used to seeing her parents either being affectionate or playful towards one another by teasing and bullying the other, seeing the two fo them hostile in this timeline was painful for all of them. Not only that, but back when she and Atsumi were the only ones living with him, any references made to mom usually sobered him and made him all quiet. Given that Dad was also quiet and calm back home, he usually had a mischievous glint in his eyes whenever someone asked about her.

The set-up in this timeline weirded her out, but that wouldn’t stop her from working with her siblings to help mend the relationship between their parents in this timeline.

“Oh. Well…” she scratched the back of her head. “Umm… I guess… apology accepted.”

Just before the older woman could sigh in relief, she heard herself say, “… From me, that is. You have yet to properly apologize to the others.”

She tried not to smile when she saw the older woman’s expression falter. “W-well, uh, I guess tomorrow, I can—”

“Tell you what,  _you_  can do it  _now_.”

“W-what?! H-how?!” mom spluttered, her face expressing dread every minute.

“I’ll sneak you in. Don’t worry,” she found herself saying, putting in as much sympathy in her tone as possible. “dad is asleep, and he’s a heavy sleeper.” It wasn’t true, as dad had been trained his whole life to jolt awake at the slightest sound. But since his room was across the room that all of them occupied, they tried not to leave the room in the middle of the night unless it was absolutely necessary, knowing that there was a chance that he would wake up from their footsteps.

“But—”

“We won’t tell if you won’t!” before she lost her nerve, she grabbed her mom’s arm and tugged at it, running as fast as she could back to dad’s house, which was only three blocks away from where she was. Upon nearing the gate, she warned Kagura that they were jumping over the gate. As soon as Miyuki jumped, Kagura did the same, and immediately after landing on the garden, both women headed for the window on the right side of the house.

After tapping the window twice, the window slid open, and three pairs of eyes peered at them. “Welcome back, Miyu—”

Upon seeing their mother, all three of her siblings’ smiles faltered.

“Mother.”

“Mami.”

“Mama.”

Though they acknowledged the woman who was supposedly their mother in this timeline, it was evident that they were feeling very awkward towards her as well.

Miyuki didn’t blame them; all of them did not take mom’s earlier words too well.

“… May we go in? I’ll explain everything.”

* * *

It hadn’t been difficult swallowing her pride and apologizing to the remaining three children, as she  _did_  acknowledge that her parting words earlier had been rather harsh. However, she omitted her other reason why she had been snappy earlier, and just went along with Miyuki’s explanation that her two brothers were difficult to handle, which was why she had snapped. Not surprisingly, the two boys shrugged off her explanation, acknowledging that they were used to messing around with their mom that they forgot that they were not talking to their real mom, but another version of her.

That, at least, eased her worries.

By the time apologies have been exchanged, all four siblings were animatedly talking with one another in low voices, and somehow, she felt like the intruder who just gatecrashed at their sleepover for the heck of it. When she stood up and said that she was going back to the Yorozuya, all four of them told her ‘no’, and said that she was free to stay with them and that they wouldn’t mind her bunking along with them.

“… That guy won’t like it if he finds out.” She informed them rather seriously.

“We won’t tell if you won’t!” echoed the youngest Atsumi, who grabbed her arm. “Come on, mama, we can share the  _futon_!”

As much as she wanted to decline and tell her that she was fine sleeping on the floor with no  _futon_ , she agreed, as didn’t want to offend the younger girl, who looked so happy at the thought of sleeping next to her.

As if reading her mind, Atsumi explained. “I used to share the bed with mom and dad, but after mom got pregnant with Sei, she said that the baby would keep her awake at night and didn’t want to bother me because she’s a light sleeper, just like dad.” She shrugged. “You’re not pregnant, so I hope you’ll be fine if we share the bedding?”

She definitely wasn’t a light sleeper, and she definitely wasn’t pregnant, so she was fine with sharing the  _futon_.

… Though she was rather bothered about who this Sei person is, so she asked them.

“Sei’s currently the youngest.” Spoke the eldest son. “Looks like dad, but he has your eyes.”

While she wanted to be irritated at the description used, she couldn’t bring herself to do so. It was either she was already too tired to even care about something like that, or she had already resigned herself to the fact that the future would remain unchanged, which also extended to the fact that she and the sadist would get together sometime, whenever the hell that would be, get married, and then have  _children_  together.

 _So much for hoping about becoming the best alien hunter in the galaxy_ , she thought bitterly as she settled next to Atsumi who, upon lying down on the  _futon_ , was already fast asleep. The same thing happened with the others who, to her surprise, had fallen asleep upon lying down. Kagura was the type who usually fell asleep after lying for a while, but with her mind preoccupied with a lot of things, it was…  _difficult_. Not only that, but she had no one to confide to when it came to her… problem with the sadistic policeman.

She would have rambled all of her anger to Soyo-chan, whom she knew would be more than glad to listen to her, but as she did not want to cause any further distress to her best friend, she refrained from doing so.

… Besides, her best friend’s bodyguard happened to be  _that guy_ , and while she knew Soyo wouldn’t pick sides, the female Amanto did not want the princess to get caught up in the problem.

Which left her agonizing over it all by herself; it was driving her insane more than she’d like to admit.

Sighing in frustration, she wrapped an arm around the youngest girl, who actually had an iron-like grip on her torso. Kagura figured that until these four left, she would simply have to tolerate them… or like them.

Maybe she would like them; at least they were all grown-up, and they seemed intelligent enough to hold a conversation with her.

Not that she didn’t like children, but her interactions with anyone below the age of twelve were far and few, and she did not know how to handle them.

Maybe she could try at least.

 _Maybe_ , she thought to herself as she finally drifted off to sleep.

She knew it was still early morning when someone shook her awake. Vaguely remembering that it might be one of the children who roused her from a very comfortable sleep, she gave out a sleepy, “Hmm?” instead of an angry outburst that she reserved for Shinpachi or Gin-chan whenever they try to wake her up before noon. In the Yorozuya, her wake-up time was whenever lunch was served.

“Mama, can you go with me to the toilet? I’m scared…” came the youngest girl’s voice.

Slowly, with her eyes closed, she got out of the comforter and yawned. Immediately, Atsumi grabbed her arm and automatically, she stood up and slowly let the younger girl guide her to where the toilet was located. Upon hearing the door close, Kagura leaned against the wall opposite the toilet, with her eyes still closed and waited for the youngest girl among the four to finish. When she heard the toilet flush and the running of the water, she yawned once more, trying desperately to stay awake. Several seconds later, she let the younger girl lead her back back to bed, and upon seeing the young girl lying on the futon through half-opened eyes, she did the same and went back to sleep.

* * *

Okita Sougo was used to Atsumi sleeping in his room two days after their first encounter, which was why he paid no heed when, in the middle of the night, the door to his room opened and he felt the comforter move so that she could lay down beside him, as he had attached two separate  _futon_  together just in case she needed to sleep in his room. While he felt awkward about this whole thing, it took a while before he realized that the youngest was probably doing this to somewhat ease the loneliness; after all, when he was younger, he used to sleep beside his sister until he moved to Edo. He also learned from Atsumi that she used to sleep beside her parents until her mother became pregnant with their current youngest, which amused him; if there was something that she had also inherited from future him, it was the attachment she had towards her family.

When he woke up at the usual hour of seven in the morning, he was expecting to see hair color similar to his own to be beside him in the  _futon_.

What he didn’t expect was someone with familiarly pale skin and whose vermillion hair reached her waist was sleeping soundly beside him… and hugging him too, as her arm had snaked around his mid-section.

_Impossible._

China would never think of being here.

Or rather, she had sworn off this place ever since the incident from last year that had left them both rather…  _antagonistic_  at one another. It was her who had been raising hell most of the time, as she was always the more vocal one between them when it came to telling everyone who bothered to listen how much she hated his guts.

As for him… well, he was good at pretending that he was over it.

 _So damn good_ , to the point that everyone around them thought that what he had done to China had been something that she had taken to the extreme, while he donned on a poker-faced expression and ignored every little thing she said against him. It wasn’t as if he didn’t care anymore but…

It was tiring to hear the same old tirade over and over again, like a broken record.

It was  _impossible_  that she would be here, but  _she was_ , and she actually had an arm around him. In response to the contact, his heart raced upon realizing the closeness of their positions, most especially since the last time this happened, it ended badly and—

“Papa! Time for—” he couldn’t see how Atsumi reacted, as his back was turned to her. “Oh!” she gasped, probably shocked at the fact that her mother in this timeline had magically appeared by his bed, and was even hugging him as if her life depended on it.

“… I’ll eat later.” He informed her, knowing that the volume of his voice didn’t matter, as China was the type to sleep through  _anything,_ based on first-hand experience. “You and everyone else can go on ahead and eat if you want to.” as they were all still growing (even the twenty year old; he knew from experience that twenty was still the age where there was still development to be done to one’s body), he knew how difficult it was for them to hold back during meal times, given that their heritage would require them to eat heavy meals to keep up with their bodies.

“O-okay, Papa. Got it. Later then.” She slid the door shut, and upon hearing the door make contact with the frame, he sighed in exasperation.

 _Now what_?

For sure, China was not going to be happy with what she would be seeing when she wakes up.

On the other hand, he was going to make the most out of this situation, and with that, he came up with the best answer: go back to sleep.

Mornings were better when it involved cuddling, and he didn’t mind it.  _Not at all._

He’ll just deal with the consequences later.

 _For now…_  he wrapped an arm around her upper back, pulled her closer to him, and closed his eyes. Minutes later, he was fast asleep.

* * *

For the past few months, she hadn’t been able to sleep well.

She could attribute it to the fact that the area she lived in was a well-known entertainment district that came alive during the night, but it would sound strange if she used that excuse, since she had been living in Edo’s Kabuki District for the past six years of her life with the Yorozuya. Other than that, she had no excuse; she wasn’t a scaredy-cat like Gin-chan, who usually couldn’t sleep during Obon (he was still deadly afraid of ghosts) or Halloween (seriously, even  _that_?), so it was harder for her to explain why she had dark circles under her eyes for the past few months.

She knew the reason why, but as always, she didn’t want to admit it to herself and didn’t want to face it head-on (for now).

For some time, the best excuse she had come up with was that she was excited for something that would happen the next day (a total lie), and then switching it to a better-sounding, ‘I work the nightshift at Snack Smile’ excuse, which was slightly true, as she did work as a bouncer of sorts three times a week to earn her keep. Gin-chan, for all his responsibility of providing food and shelter for her, still would not and could not pay her and Shinpachi the salary that they deserved.

Ever since  _that time_ , she had been so restless that when she did fall asleep, she would wake up a few hours later, and would be unable to fall right back to sleep. Surprisingly, when she laid down on the  _futon_  with Atsumi in her arms, she had managed to nod off for a few good hours before she got roused because the little girl wanted to go to the bathroom.

That had been the only instance wherein she had been so sleepy that as soon as she was back on the  _futon_ , without hesitation, she hugged the younger girl in her arms, knowing that this was going to be one of the few chances wherein she would be able to sleep soundly.

At that time, she thought that she might as well take full advantage of it.

Hours after she had done so, she would later find out that the one in her arms was not Okita Atsumi, as the girl referred to herself, but someone who was somehow closely related to the younger girl.

When Kagura groggily opened her eyes hours later, feeling strangely well-rested and refreshed, the moment she noticed that sadist was the one she was hugging, her heart began pounding so hard against her chest that she nearly felt dizzy from it. As she told herself to calm down, she focused on his face and was surprised to see that his sleeping form looked so relaxed… though she told herself that shouldn’t be surprised, especially since she already caught a glimpse of that months ago, during…  _that_. Discreetly, she craned her neck to check her surroundings, especially since she had no idea how the hell sadist ended up in the room where she and the other kids were staying. She felt her forehead crease upon realizing that the room she was in right now was  _definitely_  not the one she stayed in last night.

_What the heck just happened…? How did I get here?_

“… If you must know, you’re currently in my room.”

She gasped when she turned to face him, who was now wide awake and looking at her. “China.”

“Y-you…” she scanned his face for any signs of mockery in it. She waited for any hint of malice glinting in his eyes, and was surprised when all she could see was resignation in it.

“Finally awake? Can you get your arm off my torso? You’ve been holding me in your arms for the past few hours.” He drawled.

She drew her arm away from him, as if she had been burned, and immediately, he propped up an arm, placed a hand on his cheek to support his head as he positioned himself parallel to the  _futon_  and looked at her questioningly. Inwardly, she cursed herself when her eyes wandered and noticed, of all the things, that the collar of his  _yukata_  was slipping off, slightly exposing his chest.

_Stop staring at him, you idiot._

“What brings you to my house? I specifically remembered you stating something along the lines of ‘you’d rather die than be here again’ last year.” He reminded her.

She winced slightly as she heard him throw back the scathing words she uttered before, but knew that she might as well tell him what happened last night, before he had a chance to throw her out. As she explained her side of the story, the Yato was waiting for him to give her that look of contempt, the one that she dreamed of whenever she dreamt of him. Surprisingly, he listened, asked a few questions midway, and when she was done with her narration, he nodded and simply replied with, “I see.”

 _‘‘I see’? What does that even mean? Did you really listen to me, or did you just say that because you were bored out of your wits?’_  was what she wanted to say, but did not dare voice out right now, as she was afraid of ruining the rather fragile truce they had between them.

Instead, she blurted out, “So… what now…?”

“What now indeed…” he tugged the collar of his  _yukata_  back, finally realizing that he was exposing his bare chest. “Frankly, I’ve no idea.  _You_  tell me.”

“M-me?” she squeaked, not sure if she was liking being put on the spot.

“After telling me that you’d rather die than step foot in this house again, I find you in the very place that you’ve vowed to stay away from, in my room, no less, and lying on my  _futon_  even. You’ve been rather hostile towards me since last year, and you were trying  _so hard_  to provoke me.” Sarcasm dripped heavily on his last few words and in an instant, his eyes suddenly turned suspicious. “I don’t even want to know whatever it is that’s running in that head of yours, but I gotta ask: Is this another one of your sick jokes that you’ll blame me for?”

Immediately, she felt nauseous upon hearing his accusation, and found herself shaking her head. “N-no, I—”

“Then  _why_  are  _you_  here?” he asked in a hostile tone. “Were  _you_  actually the one who sneaked into my room, and not Atsumi, to finally rile me up?”

“N-no!” she replied. “I swear, when I laid down last night after she asked me to go to the toilet with her, I thought I was hugging Atsumi and—”

He interrupted her before she could have the chance to explain herself. “What do you want from me, China?” from hostile, his tone changed to resignation. “Honestly, I’d rather not deal with you unless I have to, but we might as well settle this  _now_. I’ll ask again: what the hell do you want from me?”

What she wanted…

There was only one thing she wanted from him, but was too afraid to ask for: answers from  _that night_ , especially since things ended badly for the both of them.

Admittedly, it was mostly her fault at that time, as she had let her anger get the best of her, letting herself say rather hurtful words. At the time, sadist had been donning on a poker face as she launched an angry outburst that ranged from how he was such a sadistic jerk towards her since they were younger to how he lacked in  _that_   _part_  of his anatomy. It didn’t take a genius to figure out that he was probably itching to even out the score by retorting back with words that would probably crush her emotionally, especially since he was used to insulting her. Instead, he calmly told her to get out, which she did, but not before telling him that she would rather die than be in his house every again.

But to hear him say that she had planned on sneaking into his room just so she could have an excuse to insult him… it hurt her more than she cared to admit.

With a shaky breath, she was just about to reply to his question when the door slammed open. “Papa! Are you awake? Lunch is ready—”

_Atsumi._

“O-oh! M-Mama, y-you’re finally awake…!” exclaimed the younger girl, her eyes wide open in surprise. “U-uhhh… w-we made lunch and if Papa is fine with it—”

She gave out a strained smile at Atsumi, who looked at her with worry in her eyes that was identical in color to her own. “… I have to go, but thanks for the offer.” She stood up from the bedding and patted the girl gently on her head. “Eat up for me, won’t you?” without waiting for her reply, Kagura headed for the room she was in yesterday to retrieve the umbrella she laid out on the  _tatami_ last night _,_ the coat that was folded neatly on the table while she got her mobile phone underneath the coat. Wincing upon seeing that she had ten missed calls from Gin-chan, she hurriedly made her way to the entrance of the house to put on her coat and her boots.

“Mother?”

She turned to look at the mirror image of sadist looking at her, concerned etched on his face.

“Yes? What is it?” she stopped what she was doing so she could turn and face him.

“You’re not joining us for lunch? Father said—”

“Sorry, but I have to go.” How she was managing to hold it all together right now without breaking down surprised her, and she astonished herself further when she managed to keep her voice even. “Gin-chan has been looking for me since last night, and I don’t want him to worry. I’ll see you around. Please tell the others that if you want to, you can visit the Yorozuya.”

Without waiting for his response, she turned her back on him to put on her remaining boots, and exited through the door.

* * *

“… Atsumi, what the hell did you do?”

Akito, who was usually laidback and carefree, was glaring at his youngest sister, unable to determine if he should blame her or not for the sudden change in Papi’s mood. It was hard to miss the fact that Papi was more distracted than usual at lunch, and whenever they asked him something, it took a while for him to respond. In the end, Papi had excused himself early, saying that he wasn’t feeling well, and left in a hurry, leaving all four of them bewildered and curious as to what happened between him and Mami in the bedroom earlier.

Obviously, they were most definitely not starting on with the procreation of their eldest brother.

When she didn’t say anything, he asked again, “What did you do to make Mami leave in a hurry?”

“What?” Atsumi glared back at him. “I had to pee early this morning, asked Mama to go with me because I didn’t want to wake up Miyuki-nee, and I  _completely forgot_  about Mama when I headed for Papa’s room—”

Miyuki rolled her eyes. “… Atsumi, seriously, no one will believe that flimsy excuse. If Uncle Kamui were here right now, he’d rip that lie apart and would tell you to ‘try harder’.”

Their youngest sister rolled her eyes back at her elder sister. “Well, good thing he isn’t here.” She shot back sarcastically. “I did what I thought would help them, so sue me.”

“Yes, and thanks to you, Mother and Father are avoiding one another.” The eldest brother shook his head in disbelief. “… Why did you do that? You should’ve thought things through, or at least asked one of us—”

“Well, I’m so sorry for even trying to patch things up between them.” Atsumi stated hotly. “How would  _I_  know that their problems went deeper than the usual ‘I can’t stand this jerk/idiot!’ tirade?”

Not surprisingly, all three of them looked at her as if she had grown an extra head, and before he could stop himself, Souichirou asked, “And just how…” he took a sip of water first before continuing what he was saying. “did you know that?”

She smiled sweetly at her eldest brother. “Isn’t it obvious? I listened in on them before barging in.”

“Oh.” At this, their vermillion-haired brother set down his chopsticks and clapped sincerely. “Nice.”

Souichirou sighed. “… I’m actually afraid of wanting to know what you heard.” At this, Miyuki nodded in agreement.

“I was more afraid of getting caught but… seems like something happened between them months ago.” She informed them. “Papa… Papa sounded really hurt too.”

All of them knew that despite their father perfecting the ability to look like he didn’t care, his very nature said otherwise. They all knew at one point in their lives that whenever their parents got into a huge fight, no matter how much their father put on a brave front, it was obvious that he was the one who got affected the most between him and mother. Thankfully, their fights never lasted long; over the years, they’ve managed to compromise each other’s shortcomings.

What alarmed them was the knowledge that the two have been at odds for  _months_ , and they feared that either one of them, or even both, would reach their breaking point. Father was hurting, that much was true, but mother was…

“But Mom… what about Mom, Atsumi?” Miyuki asked, her dark red eyes flashing at the direction of her younger sibling. “She seemed so hellbent on hating Dad—”

“Mother’s hurting too.” Souichirou blurted out immediately.

“How’d you know?” asked his younger brother, eyes filled with curiosity.

“… I just know.” Their brother replied, shaking his head. It stunned him earlier when the younger version of their mother looked like she was about to cry; for someone who had been hostile at them, seeing her looking so broken alarmed him. “Anyway, no more matchmaking until we figure out what happened to them… we’ll have to get to the bottom of this, and when we do…”

Akito flashed a rather excited grin that their mother often referred to as ‘that scary smile that makes you look a lot like your uncle’ upon hearing that they were going to do more snooping. “We attack!”

“Don’t worry, Atsumi. While it seemed like you did more harm than good, at least they managed to talk… even if they were forced to confront one another earlier than either of them wanted.” Souichirou assured his youngest sister. “They had to talk at some point.”

Atsumi nodded gravely; despite her brother’s kind words, she knew that it ended up hurting her parents in this timeline.

“It was for the best.” Miyuki placed a hand on her younger sibling’s shoulder. “Don’t think of it too much; they… they can handle that problem of theirs by themselves. Let’s just observe them for now.”

Atsumi nodded once more, slightly relieved at her sister’s reassuring words.

“For now, we wait.”

* * *

“… This is a surprise. You don’t usually contact me unless it’s a life-threatening situation.” A vermillion-haired man smirked from the computer screen. “Like when that idiot was giving birth to her third brat years ago, and you thought she was going to die.”

A sigh came from the other end of the screen. “… As much as I don’t want to, it’s important, and… well, you probably need to know.” Said the exasperated voice on the other end of the line, trying to keep his wits about. As much as he was okay with his brother-in-law, sometimes, just talking to the older man was enough to stress him out. Not to mention, with the current situation at hand, he was rather snappy at anyone who wasn’t his wife or his child.

“Out with it.”

“Kagura and I want you to go to Earth and stay at our place for a week or so. We need a house-sitter.” Upon hearing the request, the older man burst out laughing, which made him frown. “… I’m not done talking yet.”

“You called me…  _just because you needed a house-sitter_?” at this, Okita Sougo clenched and unclenched his fists in an attempt to calm himself, lest he finds himself yelling at the guy whom he and Kagura would have to depend on until this…  _ordeal_  had passed. “I’m a wanted criminal all over the galaxy, and you want  _me_  to house-sit?”

“Oh, don’t worry about that; you’ll be on surveillance 24/7 all over the house except for the bathroom. Standard procedure.” Sougo informed him. “Every day, someone will be visiting you to check up on you from time to time—”

“Oh, let me guess… you’re gonna send that brat of a princess to check up on me to see if I’m behaving properly.” It was no secret that his brother-in-law could not stand his sister’s best friend, and the feeling was mutual, as the princess ignored him whenever he was around, pretending that he did not exist.

She was also the reason why the male Yato kept his hair short ever since he turned thirty, his trademark braid gone, as there had been one incident wherein the he got the princess so riled up that she set his hair on fire. It was a relief that Souichirou, who was six year old at that time, was not there to witness it; in the end, she decided to pretend that he did not exist while he did everything he could to piss her off.

So far, his brother-in-law was still not successful in goading a reaction from Tokugawa Soyo since then.

“The princess is busy, and she doesn’t have time to deal with you. Yamazaki will be checking up on you from time to time, bringing you groceries—”

“Why are you generous all of a sudden? I’ll be watching over your house as you do whatever the hell you please. You’re letting a criminal watch over your home.” The male Yato’s eyes narrowed in suspicion. “Is this some kind of plan to win me over?”

Sougo let out a laugh, despite the tension he was feeling right now. “I’ll cut to the chase. Four of the kids are missing and may have been sent to the past through a time machine—” when Kamui interrupted him again this time, he was surprised to see the anger in the other man’s eyes.

“… Care to repeat that again?”

While the guy did not have a good relationship with him and his sister, all five children love their uncle, though Sei’s affection for Kamui was that of a wary child, as his brother-in-law had always been a bully towards the children, regardless of their age. Out of all of them, he seemed to favor Miyuki a lot, as he made her cry on their first meeting, and he had been barred from seeing them until he promised not to make her, or any of them cry. As for Sei, he was made fun of a lot by his uncle, but the child did not want ‘Unca Mui’ to stop visiting them, so he tried his best not to cry. On a positive note, Sei cried less these days, whereas before, his siblings did not want to do anything with ‘crybaby Sei’.

“Except for Sei, all of them are missing. Kagura and I are going back to the past—”

“And just how did you know that they’ve been sent back to the past? For all we know, some slave traders could’ve kidnapped them.”

Very few knew of the children’s true heritage, and for space pirates wanting a quick buck, the best way to earn a lot was to get their hands on potential mercenaries that they could command at will. Everyone in the galaxy knew of the Yato clan, but having a half-Yato in their possession would be every Amanto’s dream come true. Not only did they possess insane strength, but they could stand under the sun for hours on end, thanks to their Earth lineage. Given enough stimulants, they could be at par, or even become stronger, than a full-blooded Yato.

Okita shook his head. “We contacted the authorities, we’ve checked all records of vehicles coming in and out of Edo, we’ve searched each and every spot in Edo, and the children have disappeared without a trace. The vending machine that they came in contact with has been confirmed by Hiraga Gengai to be an object that can send people to different time periods.” At this, the police officer sighed. “As much as I don’t want to believe it, Sei insists that Souichirou told him repeatedly to tell us that they got caught up in a time machine.”

“If the kid insists on that, then he might actually be telling the truth.” The uncle was well aware that the youngest did whatever it was that his eldest brother told him, no matter how ridiculous the request may be, which amused everyone to no end. “So what now?”

“In a few days’ time, China and I, along with Sei, will be traveling to the same time period where the children got sent to.”

“Oh good. I thought I was going to babysit the kid as well.” Kamui mockingly wiped an imaginary sweat off his forehead. “I don’t have time to deal with those.”

“Yes, we wouldn’t want to hassle you over it when all we want is for you to take care of the house while we’re gone.” Okita responded sarcastically.

“Thanks!” replied Kamui enthusiastically while Sougo shook his head in disbelief. As always, he failed to catch on with the sarcasm. “Guess I’ll have to get used to the boring life in a few days’ time.”

“You do that. Thank you,  _brother-in-law._ ” At this, Kamui responded with an irritated grin and a middle finger salute before cutting off the transmission as Okita smirked haughtily all the while. All these years, the space pirate did not like getting called ‘brother-in-law’, as it reminded him of the fact that  _he_  was somehow related to the policeman who nearly bested him years back.

Both men tolerated one another, if only for the children. The same goes between the two siblings.

Upon hearing the conversation end, Kagura slid open the door and walked up to her husband. “… Did he agree?”

“Yeah, he did… as long as we provide him food that he wants to eat, I think he’ll be fine …” at this, the sandy-haired policeman scratched the back of his head. “… Though I kinda pity for sending Yamazaki to check up on him while he’s here.”

“Tell the plain guy to have someone go with him whenever he checks up on my shitty brother. Maybe Mayora, if he’s not busy?” His wife suggested. “… As much as I want to ask Soyo to do this, she’s busy… and if she does accompany ‘Zaki, they’ll probably destroy the house the moment they see one another.”

The thought of the princess throwing a vase at his brother-in-law’s face nearly made Okita chuckle, and he disguised it with a cough. “… We wouldn’t want that to happen, don’t we?”

“No, we don’t.” she replied soberly.

Okita rubbed her back. “Come on, don’t get too stressed out over this… it’ll all be fine. We’ll find them.”

“… I’ll try…” she sighed deeply, resting her head on his shoulder. Seconds later, he could tell that she began weeping, as his shoulder became wet with her tears. Alarmed, he was just about to ask her what was wrong when she automatically said, “Hormones. This is somehow your fault, sadist.”

“… My apologies for making love to you whenever you want.” At this, she pinched his side. “Oww. I’m just kidding.”

“… I just want them back.” she hiccupped. “M-my babies are… they’re…”

“They’ll be fine. They’ll all take care of one another.” Sougo muttered, wiping his hands with the back of his eyes. “And when we get there, they’ll be all be well. Let’s hope that past me takes them in… or even your side of the family.”

“The Yorozuya always takes care of one another, I’ll have you know, you jerk.” She said, her tone turning slightly playful. “Don’t underestimate past us.”

“I know, I know. Let’s just try and get some rest for the meantime. Or we could also check if we’ve got everything for this… trip. We have a few days left before we leave.” He informed her.

“I’ll try and get some sleep, provided that these two,” she gestured at her protruding belly. “will calm down and stop kicking me.”

“I’ll join you then. Talking to your brother drains me.” He admitted, which made her laugh. “After all these years, that guy still stresses me out.”

“Well, thanks for calling him earlier. I think I’d break down if I was the one who talked to him.” any mention of the missing children always sent her crying, even if it was an innocent question like, ‘I haven’t seen Souichirou around. Is he visiting his uncle?’. That line had been uttered by the kind lady at her usual sweets shop. At that time, she simply shook her head as she grabbed the bag that contained boxes of  _sukonbu_  (her supply for the trip), ignoring the concerned look of the old woman before running back home and crying on her husband’s chest. Both of them ended up crying over their children, with her openly weeping while he silently held her, tears running down his face.

“No problem. Now, let’s get some sleep. Sei is waiting for us.” With that, the couple headed for the bedroom, desperately wishing for the hours and the days to pass by quickly just so they could finally be reunited with their children and go home. As much as they wanted to set off already, final adjustments still had to be made in order for everything to go smoothly. Not to mention, Kagura herself was pregnant, and no matter how fit she was, special precautions had to be made at the last minute in order to ensure that nothing would happen to her and her children.

For now, all they could do was wait and hope that all four of them would be fine by the time they arrive.

* * *

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Note:
> 
> [1] “I was hoping to ask them what Future Otsuu-chan would be like… hopefully, she didn’t go for the AV route…” - they say that idols go for the adult video route when they get older. That did happen to Otsuu in the Gintama movie, most especially when Future Shinpachi held out a DVD of Otsuu’s pr0n video.
> 
> \---------- 
> 
> You’re probably wondering about the sleeping part. While Atsumi did say that her mother (Future Kagura) is a light sleeper, Kagura isn’t. Who’s telling the truth?
> 
> It’s Kagura.
> 
> Future Kagura saying that she’s a light sleeper is an excuse because it’s just awkward if you want to do the nooky, but your daughter is sleeping beside you and your husband. :D
> 
> \----------
> 
> Hope you all enjoyed the chapter! Thanks for reading until the very end. orz


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